Premier League records fifth-highest losses in Europe, claims Uefa

Manchester City's and Real Madrid made a combined spending of £330m this summer. Uefa wants clubs to take more financial responsibility. Photograph: Rebecca Naden/PA
The Premier League has been warned to face up to its financial responsibilities after it made the fifth-highest losses in Europe. A third of the teams in England's top flight had losses of at least 20% of their income saids Uefa's ecretary general, David Taylor, while almost a quarter of Europe's top clubs faced similar problems.
The Premier League was trailed only by Romania, Ukraine, the Czech Republic and Poland in terms of losses made, while Italy was 15th in the list of 53 European federations, with Spain ranked 35th and France and Germany among the best scorers. Despite reporting an average income per club of £122m, six of the 18 clubs investigated in the Premier League reported large losses. Germany, Italy and Spain are its closest competitors when it comes to average club income, all three hovering around the £75m mark.
The financial problems are there despite a tripling of income for clubs since 1997, largely through marketing and media revenue. But while income rose by 5% last year alone, player costs increased by 9%.
"The huge spending on players produces constantly an inflationary effect with consequences on the whole club football movement," Taylor said, who added that "the current financial crisis has exacerbated the situation."